Orville J. Cunningham was an American citizen living in Paris during WWII. He was a WW1 Navy Veteran. He was the paymaster for the French resistance group called the Bells of Les Halles, part of the Northern Liberation movement, which suffered severe losses during the war. (Of 130 members, 17 were killed fighting at the barricades, 11 were shot by firing squads, and 33 were deported, of which 23 did not return alive.) Cunningham was arrested on 24 September 1942 and was executed on 4 December 1943.

From Find a grave:
Orville came to France after his WWI service in the US Navy where he served as cook. He stayed in France and eventually married and had at least one child. He earned his living by running a restaurant in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Orville is considered and has been recognized in France as a literal hero of the French Resistance during the Nazi Occupation of France.

As an American in France during the occupation, Orville would have immediately been considered an enemy of the German forces. Like all Americans in Paris when the Nazis marched in, he would have been on a watch list and very likey had been rounded up at least once and imprisoned for a period of time, then let go. This happened to many Americas immediately in 1940 when the Nazis came in. Most Americans in Paris would have either left the country altogether or fled south to Free France territory. He was finally arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and held for several months. He did not die of natural causes, but rather it appears he was actually executed by the Gestapo on December 4, 1943 for his role in the Resistance. He was a hero! Plot:American Legion lot